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我講英文的時候，還是用中文邏輯，這句話聽起來很熟悉吧？這是很多英語學習者的人最大感挫折的來源。

譬如，我最不期望你做的事，英文竟然是the last thing I'd expect you to do；最不想見的人竟是the last person I'd like to see。在英文課堂上很難引入這些句子，因為它不是「對、錯」的問題，而是「有或沒有」那種思維的問題。

下面我們把中文寫在英文前面，希望你先把英文蓋住，看看可不可以在中文干擾下，還講出很自然、道地的英文。而且還得想辦法，下回遇到老外時，非用出來不可！

1. 禮拜一開會。你有空嗎? 我知道相當晚才通知。

The meeting will be on Monday. Are you available? I know it's pretty short notice. (很晚才通知)

2.我一點都不希望你這樣做。

That's the last thing I'd expect you to do.

3. 我的名字是Robert Lin，但是你可以叫我Robert就好。

My name is Robert Lin, but you can call me Robert for short. (簡稱)

4. 用第二語言還能幽默溝通，是件難事。

It's difficult to get humor across in a second language.

5. 講義不夠分。

There aren't enough handouts to go round.

6. 你可不可以幫我將這份文件影印10份?

Would you mind running off 10 copies of this document for me?

7. 你說的有些道理，我會接受你的建議。

There's something to what you say; I'll take your advice.(叙述等)有點道理

8. 犯錯在所難免。你怎麼回應所犯的錯誤才重要。

Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.

9. 明天就到我辦公室來，我們再想想辦法。

Just come into the office tomorrow and we'll take it from there.

10. 我確信你不會愚蠢到會相信那種事。

I am sure you are wiser than to believe that.

11. 單一一次的失敗，對我沒有影響。

I am none the worse for a single failure.

12. 我想談談我的意見，儘管我的想法不一定對。

I have my opinion such as it is.

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繼續閱讀...

還在適應中，說法有很多，首先你可以用trying to find my feet，
還在找自己的腳，也就是還找到立足點，引申“我正在努力適應新環境”。
類似的說法還有：I'm trying to orientate myself. 我在盡力適應。
新進員工訓練、新生訓練都叫做orientation，有導正方向的意思。Orient oneself，就有把自己調到對的方向的意思。
以及I'm trying to settle in.我在努力習慣（新工作/新住所等）
Settle是從seat這個字來的，坐定了，安定了，就是這個意思。
或I'm learning the ropes.我正在學習掌握竅門。
 

***
1.有可能/已經在外商公司上班 2.知道這輩子不可能擺脫英文。

假如你是以上兩種人，每天20分鐘英文可能不夠：你現在就應該→ 報名課程

先不要往下看答案，一定要先講講看自己會不會這句辦公室常用英文，之後再核對答案進步才會快：
 
 
"妳不知道這些飲料都不能喝了嗎？裡面都含有致癌物質「塑化劑」！"

spring-clean your mind
If you struggle to remember names and numbers or frequently fail to follow the plot of a film, help could be at hand. Scientists say the problem is that you know too much - and you need to declutter, or spring-clean your mind.
Experiments show that the memory lapses that come with age are not simply due to brain slowing down. Instead, they can be blamed on the well-used brain finding it more and more difficult to stop irrelevant information interfering with the task in hand。
如果你覺得自己住不住人名和數字，或者電影看著看著就忘了前面的故事情節，這篇文章幫得上忙。科學家說記不住是因為你記太多東西。你的大腦應該進行一次大掃除，刪除多餘的記憶。 

 

年紀大的人記憶力差並不是因為腦子不夠用，恰恰相反，正是因為他們頭腦運轉靈活，處理手頭工作時，不相干的記憶會不停地冒出來干擾。
The first step in the study was to compare the working memory of the young and old。 

 

In the context of the study, it involved giving the volunteers groups of sentences and asking them to work out whether each line made sense - and to remember the last word of each sentence。 Overall, the younger people, who had an average age of 23, did better。
第一項實驗是比較年輕人和老年人的短期記憶力。實驗是給實驗的對象一組句子，讓他們判斷這些句子是否有意義，看看他們能否記住每句話的最後一個單字。結果平均年齡23歲的年輕人勝出。
Researchers then did a second experiment to see what was hindering the older volunteers, who had an average age of 67. This involved being shown pictures of eight animals and being asked to memorize the order in which the creatures appeared。 The volunteers were then shown dozens of the pictures and asked to click on their computer mouse when the first animal in their memorized sequence occurred, then the second and so on. The older adults found it more difficult to progress, suggesting the previous picture was stuck in their mind。
研究人員又做了第二項實驗，目的在於找到影響這群平均年齡為67歲的老年實驗對象的原因。這項實驗讓他們看八幅動物圖片，並記住圖片出現的先後順序。實驗結束後，研究人員要求這些老年人根據自己的記憶在電腦螢幕上按圖片出現順序點擊動物圖片。這些老年人表示這個實驗很難，因為上一幅圖片在他們腦子裡揮之不去。
Mervin Blair, of Montreal's Concordia University, said: "We found that the older adults had more difficulty in getting rid of previous information, which accounted for a lot of the working memory problems seen in the study." A third study confirmed that the memory problems were not simply due to a simple slowing down of the mind。
蒙特羅協和大學的馬文布萊爾說：“我們發現，老年人忘不掉過去的事情，導致短期記憶障礙。”第三項實驗證明老人記不住東西並不是因為思維速度減緩。布萊爾這為博士候選人說，老年人似乎很難排除不相關的資訊，因此他們無法集中精神處理眼前工作。他建議那些記不住東西的人放鬆身心，忘掉那些不重要的事情。
Mr Blair, a PhD candidate, says that the older mind appears to have trouble suppressing irrelevant information. This makes it more difficult to concentrate on the here and now. For those who have trouble remembering, he suggests relaxation exercises to declutter the mind。 "Reduce clutter, if you don't, you may not get anything done." Keeping the mind young, through learning a language or musical instrument can also help。
他說道：忘掉不重要的記憶，才能做好眼前的事情。
讓大腦一直處於年輕狀態，學語言或樂器都是很好的方法。

關鍵口語字
At hand、on hand、in hand 三個片語
文章出現了in hand和at hand這兩個詞。還有一個詞on hand也常見，我們一起來看看這三個詞。

At hand原意是「在手邊、在附近」，引申為「即將來到」的意思，例如﹕
lHe lives close at hand. 他就住在附近。
lThis reported there was trouble at hand. 這表示我們快有麻煩了。 

 

 

 

In hand是「手頭有…」的意思，例如：I still have some money in hand. 我手頭還有些錢。既然手頭有，就表示這是可控制的，所以in hand又可以引申為「控制，處理，進行」。例如：
lThe work is in hand and will soon be completed. 工作正在進行中，不久就可完成。
lGive them a call and let them know we have the matter in hand. 給他們打個電話，告訴他們我們已控制了局勢。

 

On hand有「在手上」、「尚待處理」或「在場」的意思。
lIt is always advisable to have some cash on hand. 手上有些現金總是好的。
lI can’t go as I still have a lot of work on hand. 我手邊還有多工作，不能去了。
lour staff will be on hand to help you fill in the forms. 我們的職員會在場，幫助你填寫表格。 

 

關鍵閱讀字 

 

clutter & declutter
clutter可以當名詞或動詞，是。「凌亂」或「使凌亂」，相對地，declutter就是解決這個凌亂，簡化的意思。

 

 

lapse
可以當名詞或動詞。當名詞是指小錯誤，多半是時間差引起的小毛病。I had a lapse of memory. 我記錯了。在法律上這個字指「失效」。The lease has lapsed. 這一租約已經失效。

訂閱世界公民weekly電子報

 

先不要往下看答案，一定要先講講看自己會不會這句辦公室常用英文，之後再核對答案進步才會快：
"憑口音判斷，他是美國人。"
 

hard big fast short fair single

這些字都太簡單了，對不對？簡單的字用對了，英文口語也就活了！

它們都可以當副詞，副詞看似簡單，可是不容易學。今天來看看一些簡單的副詞，不過這些副詞並不是-ly結尾，而且這些副詞都是你認得字彙。

現在，用口說的方式、把上面所列的副詞填入下列句子，看看你對了多少？

1. The old habit dies __________. （積習難改）
2. Mike always likes to talk _________.（說大話）
3. This book will sell ________.（賣得好）
4. The paper stick _________. （紙黏得很緊）
5. Cars shouldn't stop __________. （緊急停車）
6. They did not play ________.（公平競爭）
7. He made his fortune by selling _________ just before the crash. （賣空）
8. He made a fortune and lived ________. （生活奢侈）
9. Misfortunes never come _________.（禍不單行）
10. You have to copy it __________. （清楚騰寫）
11. She aims ________.（目標高）
12. The prices have gone too _________ recently. （高價）

看答案